Ship unloading control system, ship loading control system, and related systems and apparatuses

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a ship unloading control system, a ship loading control system and related systems and apparatuses, capable of achieving fully automated ship loading and unloading. The ship unloading control system includes: a scheduling center system configured to generate a ship unloading plan based on ship information and container information of a target ship and shore crane apparatus information, generate a ship berthing task and a ship unloading task based on the ship unloading plan, and transmit the ship berthing task and the ship unloading task to a ship control system of the target ship and a shore crane control system of a target shore crane apparatus, respectively; the ship control system configured to transmit the ship information and the container information to the scheduling center system, control the target ship to move to an operation area corresponding to the target shore crane apparatus in accordance with the received ship berthing task, and transmit a ship in-position notification message to the shore crane control system of the target shore crane apparatus; and the shore crane control system configured to control, upon receiving the ship in-position notification message from the ship control system, the target shore crane apparatus to load a container on the target ship onto a transportation vehicle in accordance with the ship unloading task.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This patent document claims the benefit of priority of Chinese PatentApplication No. 201811321216.2, filed Nov. 7, 2018. The entire contentof the before-mentioned patent application is incorporated by referenceas part of the disclosure of this application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to intelligent control technology, andmore particularly, to a ship unloading control system, a ship loadingcontrol system and related systems and apparatuses.

BACKGROUND

As a hub station for waterway-land coordinated transportation, a port isa buffer for conversion of transportation schemes of containerizedgoods, and plays an important role in the whole container transportationprocess. At the port, container transportation operations such ascontainer unloading and container loading are required for inbound andoutbound containers.

The process of container unloading is generally as follows. After a shiparrives at a port, a container is first moved onto a transportationvehicle by a shore crane (or shore bridge). Then, the container istransported by the transport vehicle to a yard (or warehouse center).Finally, the container on the transportation vehicle is placed at acorresponding location in the yard by a warehouse hoisting apparatus(such as a rail-mounted gantry crane, a rubber-tired gantry crane, aforklift, etc.) near the yard, thereby completing the ship unloadingoperation.

The process of container loading is generally as follows. A container ina yard is lifted and placed onto a transportation vehicle by a warehousehoisting apparatus at the yard, and transported by the transportationvehicle to a shore crane where a ship is located. The container on thetransportation vehicle is placed onto the ship by the shore crane,thereby completing the ship loading operation.

SUMMARY

In an aspect, a ship unloading control system is provided according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. The ship unloading controlsystem includes: a scheduling center system configured to generate aship unloading plan based on ship information and container informationof a target ship and shore crane apparatus information, generate a shipberthing task and a ship unloading task based on the ship unloadingplan, and transmit the ship berthing task and the ship unloading task toa ship control system of the target ship and a shore crane controlsystem of a target shore crane apparatus, respectively; the ship controlsystem configured to transmit the ship information and the containerinformation to the scheduling center system, control the target ship tomove to an operation area corresponding to the target shore craneapparatus in accordance with the received ship berthing task, andtransmit a ship in-position notification message to the shore cranecontrol system of the target shore crane apparatus; and the shore cranecontrol system configured to control, upon receiving the shipin-position notification message from the ship control system, thetarget shore crane apparatus to load a container on the target ship ontoa transportation vehicle in accordance with the ship unloading task.

In another aspect, a shore crane control system is provided according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. The shore crane control systemincludes at least one machine executable instruction. The at least onemachine executable instruction includes a shore crane communicationmodule and a hoisting control module. The at least one machineexecutable instruction is executed by a processor such that: the shorecrane communication module is configured to transmit and receiveinformation, and the hoisting control module is configured to receive aship unloading task from a scheduling center system via the shore cranecommunication module, and upon receiving a ship in-position notificationmessage from a ship control system via the shore crane communicationmodule, control a target shore crane apparatus to load a container on atarget ship onto a transportation vehicle in accordance with the shipunloading task.

In another aspect, a shore crane control system is provided according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. The shore crane control systemincludes at least one processor and at least one memory. The at leastone memory stores the above shore crane control system executable by theat least one processor.

In another aspect, a shore crane apparatus is provided according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. The shore crane apparatus includesthe shore crane control system according to the above embodiment.

In another aspect, a ship loading control system is provided accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. The ship loading controlsystem includes: a scheduling center system configured to determine aship loading plan based on ship information, container information, andshore crane apparatus information, generate a ship berthing task and aship loading task based on the ship loading plan, and transmit the shipberthing task and the ship loading task to a ship control system of atarget ship and a shore crane control system of a target shore craneapparatus, respectively; the ship control system configured to control,upon receiving the ship berthing task, the target ship to move to anoperation area corresponding to the target shore crane apparatus, andtransmit a ship in-position notification message to the shore cranecontrol system of the target shore crane apparatus; and the shore cranecontrol system configured to control, upon receiving the shipin-position notification message from the ship control system, thetarget shore crane apparatus to load a container on a transportationvehicle onto the target ship in accordance with the received shiploading task.

The other features and advantages of the present disclosure will beexplained in the following description, and will become apparent partlyfrom the description or be understood by implementing the presentdisclosure. The objects and other advantages of the present disclosurecan be achieved and obtained from the structures specificallyillustrated in the written description, claims and figures.

In the following, the solutions according to the present disclosure willbe described in further detail with reference to the figures andembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures are provided for facilitating further understanding of thepresent disclosure. The figures constitute a portion of the descriptionand can be used in combination with the embodiments of the presentdisclosure to interpret, rather than limiting, the present disclosure.In the figures:

FIG. 1 is a first schematic diagram showing a structure of a shipunloading control system and a ship loading control system according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a second schematic diagram showing a structure of a shipunloading control system and a ship loading control system according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a scheduling centersystem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a ship controlsystem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a first schematic diagram showing a structure of a shore cranecontrol system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a second schematic diagram showing a structure of a shorecrane control system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a vehicle controlsystem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In the following, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure willbe described in further detail with reference to the figures. While theexemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in thefigures, it is to be noted that the present disclosure can beimplemented in various forms and are not limited to the embodimentsdescribed below. Rather, these embodiments are provided to facilitate amore thorough understanding of the present disclosure and to convey thescope of the present disclosure fully to those skilled in the art.

Conventionally at a port, the above container transportation operationssuch as loading and unloading require human intervention. For example,ships need to be steered and controlled by humans to berth at specifiedlocations. Hoisting apparatus and transportation vehicles need to bedriven and operated by operators to perform operations such as containerloading, container unloading and transportation. Yards or warehousecenters also need human intervention to arrange locations at whichcontainers are to be placed. Thus, the conventional containertransportation operations at the port have low level of intelligence andrequire a large amount of human resources, resulting in a low operationefficiency. Further, due to the complicated environment in the field, itis difficult to guarantee the safety of the operators. Moreover, thelabor cost is relatively high as a large number of operators arerequired.

With the ship unloading control system and ship loading control systemaccording to the embodiments of the present disclosure, for an operationof unloading/loading a container from/onto a ship at a port, ascheduling center system, a ship control system and a shore cranecontrol system exchange information with each other, so as to achievefully automated, unmanned ship loading/unloading operations at the port,thereby improving the intelligence level of the loading/unloading andtransportation operations of containers at the port, reducingrequirements on human resources and labor cost, improving operationefficiency and avoiding the problem associated with lack of safetyguarantee for operators.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 shows a ship unloading control system according to Embodiment 1of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, the ship unloadingcontrol system includes a scheduling center system 1, a ship controlsystem 2 provided at a ship, and a shore crane control system 3 providedat a shore crane apparatus.

The scheduling center system 1 is configured to generate a shipunloading plan based on ship information and container information of atarget ship and shore crane apparatus information, generate a shipberthing task and a ship unloading task based on the ship unloadingplan, and transmit the ship berthing task and the ship unloading task tothe ship control system 2 of the target ship and the shore crane controlsystem 3 of a target shore crane apparatus, respectively (i.e., thescheduling center system 1 transmits the ship berthing task to the shipcontrol system 2 of the target ship and transmits the ship unloadingtask to the shore crane control system 3 of the target shore craneapparatus).

The ship control system 2 is configured to transmit the ship informationand the container information to the scheduling center system 1, controlthe target ship to move to an operation area corresponding to the targetshore crane apparatus in accordance with the received ship berthingtask, and transmit a ship in-position notification message to the shorecrane control system 3 of the target shore crane apparatus.

The shore crane control system 3 is configured to control, uponreceiving the ship in-position notification message from the shipcontrol system 2, the target shore crane apparatus to load the containeron the target ship onto a transportation vehicle in accordance with theship unloading task.

In some optional embodiments, the ship information may include shiparrival time and ship state information. The shore crane apparatusinformation may include operation time information of each shore craneapparatus in a port area. The container information may include a numberof containers and identification information and a type of goods carriedby each container. The ship information and the container informationcan be transmitted from the ship control system 2 of the target ship tothe scheduling center system 1. The shore crane apparatus informationmay be information pre-stored in the scheduling center system 1.Alternatively, each shore crane apparatus in the port area can transmitits own shore crane apparatus information to the scheduling centersystem 1. The scheduling center system 1 generating the ship unloadingplan based on the ship information and container information of thetarget ship and the shore crane apparatus information may include:determining the target shore crane apparatus based on the ship arrivaltime and the operation time information of each shore crane apparatus inthe shore crane apparatus information; estimating ship unloading starttime and ship unloading end time based on the ship arrival time, theoperation time information of the target shore crane apparatus and thenumber of containers, and determining a target container area for eachcontainer based on the type of goods carried by the container andinformation on container areas in the port area; and generating the shipunloading plan containing identification information of the target ship,identification information of the target shore crane apparatus, the shipunloading start time, the ship unloading end time and the identificationinformation and the target container area for each container.

In an embodiment, the ship unloading start time can be determined by:determining whether the target shore crane apparatus is in an idle stateat the ship arrival time based on the operation time of the target shorecrane apparatus; and if so, determining the ship arrival time or thetime at which the ship has arrived and berthed as the ship unloadingstart time, or otherwise determining the time at which the target shorecrane apparatus completes the task it is performing at the ship arrivaltime as the ship unloading start time.

In an embodiment, the ship unloading end time can be determined by:calculating a time length required for the target shore crane apparatusto unload all containers on the target ship to be unloaded at the portbased on a historical operation rate of the target shore craneapparatus; and obtaining the ship unloading end time based on the shipunloading start time and the time length.

As an implementation of the embodiment of the present disclosure, thescheduling center system 1 determining the target shore crane apparatusbased on the ship arrival time and the operation time information ofeach shore crane apparatus in the shore crane apparatus information mayinclude: determining one or more shore crane apparatuses available atthe ship arrival time based on the ship arrival time and the operationtime information of each shore crane apparatus; and selecting one of thedetermined one or more shore crane apparatuses as the target shore craneapparatus. The available shore crane apparatus may refer to a shorecrane apparatus that is in an idle state at the arrival time of thetarget ship, or a shore crane apparatus that is about to complete itsoperation task at the arrival time of the target ship.

As an implementation of the embodiment of the present disclosure, whendetermining the target shore crane apparatus based on the ship arrivaltime and the operation time information of each shore crane apparatus inthe shore crane apparatus information, if the operation area of thetarget ship is enough for two or more shore crane apparatuses to performhoisting operations, the scheduling center system 1 can select two ormore of the shore crane apparatuses in the idle state based on sizeinformation and the operation area of the ship, as target shore craneapparatuses. In the ship unloading operation, different target shorecrane apparatuses can hoist containers within their respective operationranges in accordance with the ship unloading task and load thecontainers onto transportation vehicles, so as to shorten the operationtime and improve the operation efficiency.

As an implementation of the embodiment of the present disclosure, duringthe ship unloading process, if the currently determined target shorecrane apparatus cannot meet a container hoisting requirement, e.g., whenthe currently determined target shore crane apparatus malfunctionsduring the hoisting operation, the scheduling center system 1 canreselect another available hoisting apparatus as a new target shorecrane apparatus based on current time information and the operation timeinformation of each shore crane apparatus in the shore crane apparatusinformation.

As an implementation of the embodiment of the present disclosure, thescheduling center system 1 can determine the target container area foreach container based on the type of goods carried by the container andthe information on container areas in the port area as follows. Thewarehouse center in the port area can be divided into differentcontainer areas depending on the types of goods they can store. Thescheduling center system 1 can obtain the type of goods carried by thecontainer and determine the target container area in the warehousecenter for storing the type of goods to store the container unloadedfrom the ship based on information on the types of goods each containerarea in the warehouse center of the port area can store.

In some optional embodiments, the scheduling center system 1 generatingthe ship berthing task and the ship unloading task based on the shipunloading plan may include: generating the ship berthing task containingidentification information and an operation area of the target shorecrane apparatus, based on the ship unloading plan; and generating theship unloading task containing identification information of the targetship, ship unloading start time, ship unloading end time andidentification information and a target container area for eachcontainer, based on the ship unloading plan.

In some optional embodiments, the ship unloading task may include a shipunloading task list recording the identification information of thetarget ship, the identification information of the target shore craneapparatus, the identification information of each container to beunloaded at the port and its corresponding target container area.

In some optional embodiments, the ship control system 2 transmitting theship information and the container information to the scheduling centersystem 1 may include: determining a travel time length from a currentlocation of the target ship to the port based on the current location, alocation of the port and a travel route; estimating arrival time atwhich the target ship arrives at the port based on the travel timelength and current time; and transmitting the ship informationcontaining the estimated arrival time and ship state information and thecontainer information to the scheduling center system 1.

In an embodiment, the arrival time at which the target ship arrives atthe port can be estimated based on a departure location, the location ofthe target port and the predetermined travel route when the target shipis to travel from the departure location to the target port. Inparticular, the ship control system 2 of the target ship can determinethe predetermined travel route based on the departure location and thelocation of the port, estimate a travel speed of the ship based on acurrent weather condition and maritime information obtained at the timeof departure, calculate the required travel time length of the ship andobtain the estimated arrival time based on the current time.

In an embodiment, the arrival time at which the target ship arrives atthe port can be obtained as follows. While the target ship is traveling,the ship control system 2 can determine the location of the ship,calculate the required travel time length of the ship based on thelocation of the ship, the location of the port, the travel route and acurrent travel speed of the ship, and obtain the estimated arrival timebased on the current time.

In an embodiment, while the target ship is traveling, it may encountervarious different travel conditions, e.g., the weather or maritimeconditions may vary or the ship may need to wait or yield to otherships, such that the ship may not be able to travel according to thetravel route and speed predetermined at the time of departure. In thiscase, the ship control system 2 can determine the location of the targetship, re-plan the route based on the location of the target ship,determine the travel speed, calculate the required travel time length ofthe ship, obtain the estimated arrival time based on the current time,and transmit the newly estimated arrival time to the scheduling centersystem 1.

In an embodiment, when the target ship approaches the area where thetarget shore crane apparatus is located, the ship control system 2 candetermine the location of the target shore crane apparatus, plan atravel route and control the target ship to move to the operation areaof the target shore crane apparatus in accordance with the received shipberthing task containing the identification information and operationarea of the target shore crane apparatus. When the target ship is inposition, the ship control system 2 can transmit the ship in-positionnotification message to the shore crane control system 3 of the targetshore crane apparatus.

In an embodiment, after entering a wireless signal coverage of the port,the ship control system 2 of the target ship can establish communicationwith the target shore crane apparatus wirelessly based on theidentification information of the target shore crane apparatus,determine the location of the target shore crane apparatus based on theidentification information of the target shore crane apparatus, plan aroute for moving to the operation area of the target shore craneapparatus, adjust the planed travel route by communicating with theshore crane apparatus, arrive at the operation area and prepare forcontainer unloading.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the target ship can plan thetravel route from the location of the target ship to the port or fromthe current location to the operation area by using any existingnavigation algorithm or by using any third-party navigation software(the present disclosure is not limited thereto).

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the ship state informationmay include information on the remaining fuel, information on thecurrent location, information on the tonnage of the ship, information onthe draught of the ship, and the like. In generating the ship unloadingplan, the scheduling center system 1 can schedule a ship having a lowlevel of remaining fuel to berth first based on the information on theremaining fuel of the ship, select a shore crane apparatus having anappropriate distance from the shore crane apparatuses in the idle statebased on the information on the current location, select a shore craneapparatus suitable for the target ship to berth from the shore craneapparatuses in the idle state based on the information on the tonnageand draught of the ship, and finally select one shore crane apparatus asthe target shore crane apparatus.

In some optional embodiments, the shore crane control system 3controlling the target shore crane apparatus to load the container onthe target ship onto the transportation vehicle in accordance with theship unloading task may include: the shore crane control system 3confirming an identity of each container on the target ship in apredetermined container unloading order and control the target shorecrane apparatus to hoist each container when its identity is confirmed;and controlling, upon receiving a vehicle in-position notificationmessage from a vehicle control system of the transportation vehicle, thetarget shore crane apparatus to load the container onto thetransportation vehicle, marking the container in the ship unloading taskas in an unloaded state, and transmitting a ship unloading completionnotification message to the scheduling center system 1 and/or the shipcontrol system 2 of the target ship when determining that all containersin the ship unloading task are in the unloaded state.

In an embodiment, the predetermined container unloading order may be anorder in which containers are unloaded by columns, from top to bottomper column. The shore crane control system 3 can be further configuredto, when confirmation of the identity fails, lift and place thecontainer on top of another column of containers whose identities havebeen confirmed on the target ship.

In an embodiment, the containers on the target ship can be arranged incolumns, with multiple containers being stacked in layers in eachcolumn. The predetermined container unloading order can be obtained asfollows. The shore crane control system 3 can determine the location ofeach container to be unloaded on the ship based on the ship informationand container information in the ship unloading task, and generate acontainer unloading order in which the containers are unloaded bycolumns, from top to bottom per column, based on the number ofcontainers to be unloaded and the identification information of each ofthe containers.

In an embodiment, when the shore crane control system 3 is controllingthe shore crane apparatus to unload the containers on the ship, thecontainers on the target ship can be unloaded by columns, layer by layerfrom top to bottom per column (the containers are unloaded one columnafter another). When the hoisting process begins, the shore cranecontrol system 3 can confirm an identity of a container on the shipbased on the identification information of the container in the shipunloading task, control the target shore crane apparatus to lift thecontainer when the identity is confirmed, and upon receiving the vehiclein-position notification message from the vehicle control system 4 ofthe transportation vehicle, control the target shore crane apparatus toload the container onto the transportation vehicle and mark thecontainer in the ship unloading task as in the unloaded state.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, different contains carriedby the target ship may have different destination ports and only some ofthe containers need to be unloaded at the target port. Thus, whenunloading the container, it is required to re-arrange the container notto be unloaded at the target port on the target ship. In order to reducethe workload of the shore crane apparatus, the shore crane controlsystem 3 can confirm an identity of a container on the ship based on theidentification information of the container in the ship unloading task,and when the confirmation of the identity fails, control the targetshore crane apparatus to lift and place the container on top of anothercolumn of containers whose identities have been confirmed on the targetship.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the containers areloaded onto the target ship for transportation, they can be loaded indifferent categories depending on their respective destination ports. Inthis way, when the target ship arrives at each destination port, thecontainers to be unloaded at the destination port can be unloaded fromthe ship, so as to reduce the workload of hoisting operations at theirdestination ports and improve the operation efficiency.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, due to the limited operationarea of the shore crane apparatus, in order to improve the operationefficiency, the shore crane control system 3 can control the targetshore crane apparatus to lift the container first, and while thecontainer is in a lifted state, upon receiving the vehicle in-positionnotification message from the vehicle control system 4 of thetransportation vehicle, load the container onto the transportationvehicle. After the container is loaded, the transportation vehicleleaves the container loading location immediately. The shore cranecontrol system 3 can control the target shore crane apparatus to liftthe next container to be loaded and wait for the vehicle in-positionnotification for the next transportation vehicle. Each time a loadingoperation for a container has completed, the container in the shipunloading task is marked as in the unloaded state, until the shipunloading task is completed. When confirming that all containers in theship unloading task are in the unloaded state, the shore crane controlsystem 3 can transmit a ship unloading completion notification messageto the scheduling center system 1 and/or the ship control system 2 ofthe target ship.

In some optional embodiments, a tag containing the identificationinformation of the container can be provided at the surface of thecontainer. For example, the tag can be a Quick Response (QR) code or abarcode, and the shore crane control system 3 can confirm the identityof the container on the target ship by recognizing the QR code orbarcode on the container.

In an embodiment, the shore crane control system 3 can include anidentity recognition device, which can be a camera, a code reader or anyother device capable of recognizing a QR code or barcode (the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto). As an implementation of theembodiment of the present disclosure, the identity recognition devicecan be provided on a hoisting arm of the target shore crane apparatusand can obtain the identification information of the container byscanning the QR code or barcode on the container, compare theidentification information of the container with the identificationinformation of the container in the ship unloading task, and determinethat the identity is confirmed when they match each other, or otherwisedetermine that the confirmation of the identity fails.

In an embodiment, the tag can be an electronic tag bound to theidentification information of the container. Accordingly, the identityrecognition device can be an inductive reader for obtaining theidentification information of the container by reading theidentification information of the container from the electronic tag,comparing the identification information of the container with theidentification information of the container in the ship unloading task,and determining that the identity is confirmed when they match eachother, or otherwise determining that the confirmation of the identityfails.

The ship loading control system according to Embodiment 1 of the presentdisclosure can further include a vehicle control system 4 and awarehouse management system 5, as shown in FIG. 2.

The vehicle control system 4 can be configured to control, uponreceiving a container loading task, the transportation vehicle to moveto a container loading location associated with the container loadingtask for loading the container, and to control, upon receiving acontainer unloading task, the transportation vehicle to move to acontainer unloading location associated with the container unloadingtask for unloading the container.

The warehouse management system 5 can be configured to assign, uponreceiving a container storage task, a warehouse hoisting apparatus tohoist each target container carried by the transportation vehicle to acorresponding storage location in accordance with the container storagetask.

In some optional embodiments, the scheduling center system 1 can befurther configured to generate the container storage task based on theship unloading plan and transmit the container storage task to thewarehouse management system 5 of a warehouse center.

In some optional embodiments, the scheduling center system 1 can befurther configured to generate the container loading task based on theship unloading plan and transmit the container loading task to thevehicle control system 4 of the transportation vehicle.

In some optional embodiments, the container storage task can include acontainer storage task list recording identification information of thewarehouse management system, the identification information of eachcontainer to be stored in the warehouse center and its correspondingtarget container area.

In some optional embodiments, the scheduling center system 1 can befurther configured to determine, after the shore crane apparatus hasloaded the container onto the transportation vehicle, the containerunloading location based on the target container area for the container,generate the container unloading task containing the container unloadinglocation and transmit the container unloading task to the vehiclecontrol system 4 of the transportation vehicle.

In some embodiments, in the port area, a container loading location anda container unloading location, which may be one and the same locationor two different locations, can be predetermined for each containerarea. The container loading and unloading locations corresponding toeach container area in the port area can be stored in advance in thescheduling center system 1 and/or the shore crane control system 3.

In some optional embodiments, the shore crane control system 3 canobtain its own location information by means of positioning, andexchange information with the ship control system 2 and the vehiclecontrol system 4, so as to obtain the location information of the targetship and the location information of the transportation vehicle, andhoist the container onto the transportation vehicle based on its ownlocation information, the location information of the target ship andthe location information of the transportation vehicle.

In an embodiment, the hoisting arm of the shore crane apparatus can beprovided with an end effector, and the container can be provided with agrab section coordinated with the end effector. The shore craneapparatus lifts the container by grabbing the grab section of thecontainer with the end effector.

In an embodiment, in a container lifting operation, the shore cranecontrol system 3 can capture an image of the grab section of thecontainer, determine orientation information of the grab section basedon the image, and adjust a movement gesture of the end effector based onthe orientation information of the grab section, such that the endeffector can grab the grab section precisely to lift the container.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the hoisting arm can be ahoister. A lock can be provided at each of four corners of a lower partof the hoister (i.e., the four locks constitute the end effector). Alock hole coordinated with the lock is provided at each of four cornersof the top of the container (i.e., the four lock holes constitute thegrab section). When the four locks of the hoister are inserted into thefour lock holes on the containers, the hoister can lift the container.Of course, in some other examples, the hoisting arm can be a hoisterhaving a hook provided at its lower part (i.e., the hook constitutes theend effector). A buckle or ring can be provided on the top of thecontainer. When the hook of the hoister is hooked to the buckle or ringon the top of the container, the hoister can lift the container.

In some optional embodiments, the shore crane control system 3 can befurther configured to establish association information between thetransportation vehicle and the container after controlling the targetshore crane apparatus to load the container onto the transportationvehicle, and transmit the association information to the schedulingcenter system 1.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to guarantee thecorrespondence between the transportation vehicle and the container itcarries, the shore crane control system 3 can associate thetransportation vehicle and the container based on identificationinformation of the transportation vehicle and the identificationinformation of the container when loading the container onto thetransportation vehicle.

As an implementation of the embodiment of the present disclosure, in theabove embodiment, the scheduling center system 1 generating thecontainer unloading task containing the container unloading locationbased on the target container area for the container may include: thescheduling center system 1 determining, upon receiving the associationinformation between the transportation vehicle and the container fromthe shore crane control system 3, the container unloading location forthe container based on the target container area for the container inthe association information and generating the container unloading taskcontaining the container unloading location.

In some optional embodiments, the warehouse management system 5assigning the warehouse hoisting apparatus to hoist each targetcontainer carried by the transportation vehicle to the correspondingstorage location in accordance with the container storage task mayinclude: the warehouse management system 5 confirming, upon receiving acontainer unloading in-position notification message from the vehiclecontrol system 4 of the transportation vehicle, an identity of thecontainer in the container unloading in-position notification message,and transmitting a container unloading hoisting task containing thestorage location of the container to a hoisting control system of thewarehouse hoisting apparatus when the identity is confirmed; and thewarehouse management system 5 marking the container in the containerstorage task as in a stored state upon receiving the container unloadingcompletion notification message from the hoisting control system of thewarehouse hoisting apparatus, and transmitting a container storage taskcompletion notification message to the scheduling center system 1 or theshore crane control system 3 when determining that all containers in thecontainer storage task have been marked as in the stored state.

The hoisting control system of the warehouse hoisting apparatus can liftthe container on the transportation vehicle and place it at the storagelocation associated with the container unloading hoisting task uponreceiving the container unloading hoisting task, and transmit acontainer unloading completion notification message to the warehousemanagement system 5 and/or the vehicle control system 4 of thetransportation vehicle.

In some optional embodiments, the vehicle control system 4 can befurther configured to transmit a container loading in-positionnotification message to the shore crane control system 3 of the shorecrane apparatus corresponding to the container loading location whencontrolling the transportation vehicle to move to the container loadinglocation, and transmit a container unloading in-position notificationmessage to the warehouse management system 5 corresponding to thecontainer unloading location when controlling the transportation vehicleto move to the container unloading location.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the vehicle control system 4can be configured to determine a current location of the transportationvehicle, plan a travel route from the current location of thetransportation vehicle to the container loading location or containerunloading location based on the container loading task or containerunloading task for the transportation vehicle, obtain environmentinformation and determine a perception result, determine travel decisioninformation based on the perception result and the travel route, andcontrol the transportation vehicle to move to the container loadinglocation or container unloading location along the travel route based onthe travel decision information.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the perception result mayinclude information on e.g., a type, shape, contour, location anddistance of an obstacle around the mobile hoisting apparatus. Thevehicle control system 4 can obtain the above perception result byrecognizing the environment information using any existing visualprocessing techniques such as object detection, object tracking andsemantic segmentation (the present disclosure is not limited thereto).The vehicle control system 4 can plan the travel route from the currentlocation of the transportation vehicle to the container loading locationor container unloading location using its own navigation algorithm orany third-party navigation software (the present disclosure is notlimited thereto). The travel decision information may include steeringinformation (including information on steering angle), accelerationinformation (including information on an opening degree of a throttlepedal), deceleration information (including information on an openingdegree of a brake pedal), gear information (including information ondriving, reverse or neutral gear), and the like. The specific decisionalgorithm can be similar to the existing decision algorithm used in theself-driving vehicles and details thereof will be omitted here.

In some optional embodiments, when transmitting the container storagetask to the warehouse center, the scheduling center system 1 candetermine, based on operation time information of each warehousehoisting apparatus in the warehouse hoisting apparatus information inthe port area, at least one warehouse hoisting apparatus that is in theidle state at hoisting time, and select one or more warehouse hoistingapparatuses from the determined at least one warehouse hoistingapparatus for assigning to the warehouse center. The predeterminedhoisting time can be the ship unloading start time or the time at whichthe transportation vehicle is estimated to arrive at the warehousecenter. Of course, in some optional embodiments, the warehouse center ofthe port has a pre-assigned corresponding warehouse hoisting apparatusand there is no need for the scheduling center system 1 to assign thewarehouse hoisting apparatus. The warehouse hoisting apparatus has ahoisting control system.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the storage area of thewarehouse center can be divided into a number of container areasdepending on the types of container goods they can store. The containersin each container area are stacked in layers per column. The containerstorage task transmitted from the scheduling center system 1 to thewarehouse management system 5 of the warehouse center may contain theidentification information of the container and the target containerarea for the container. Upon receiving the container unloadingin-position notification message from the vehicle control system 4 ofthe transportation vehicle, the warehouse management system 5 cancompare the identification information of the container in the containerunloading in-position notification message with the identificationinformation of the container in the container storage task, anddetermine that the identity is confirmed when they match each other. Inthis case, the warehouse management system 5 can confirm the storagelocation of the container from available storage locations in the targetcontainer area based on the target container area for the container inthe container storage task, generate the container unloading hoistingtask containing the storage location of the container, and transmit thecontainer unloading hoisting task to the hoisting control system of thewarehouse hoisting apparatus. If they do not match, no further operationis performed and a warning message of leaving or wrong container areacan be transmitted to the vehicle control system 4 of the transportationvehicle.

In an embodiment, the hoisting control system 3 can determine its ownlocation information by means of positioning, communicate with thewarehouse management system 5 and the vehicle control system 4 to obtainthe storage location information of the container and the locationinformation of the transportation vehicle, and hoist the container onthe transportation vehicle to the storage location of the containerbased on its own location information, the storage location informationof the container and the location information of the transportationvehicle.

In an embodiment, the warehouse hoisting apparatus can be a rubber-tiredgantry crane, a rail-mounted gantry crane or a forklift. The warehousehoisting apparatus is provided with a hoisting arm, which can be amechanical arm or a hoister (the present disclosure is not limitedthereto). In an embodiment, the hoisting arm of the warehouse hoistingapparatus may have a specific structure similar to the hoisting arm ofthe shore crane apparatus. For the lifting operation process for thewarehouse hoisting apparatus to lift the container, reference can bemade to the lifting operation process for the shore crane apparatus anddetails thereof will be omitted here.

In some optional embodiments, the container storage task in the aboveembodiment can be generated by the shore crane control system 3 based onthe ship unloading task and transmitted to the warehouse managementsystem 5 of the warehouse center.

In some optional embodiments, the container loading task in the aboveembodiment can be generated by the shore crane control system 3 based onthe ship unloading task and transmitted to the vehicle control system 4of the transportation vehicle.

In some optional embodiments, the shore crane control system 3 cangenerate the container unloading task containing the container unloadinglocation based on the target container area for the container aftercontrolling the target shore crane apparatus to load the container ontothe transportation vehicle, and transmit the container unloading task tothe vehicle control system 4 of the transportation vehicle.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a warehouse managementsystem 5 can manage one or more container areas. If the target containerareas for the containers in the ship unloading plan are distributedacross a plurality of warehouse management systems, the schedulingcenter system 1 can generate a plurality of container storage tasksbased on the ship unloading plan and transmit them to the respectivewarehouse management systems 5. Assuming that one warehouse managementsystem 5 manages one container area and the target container areas for anumber, N, of containers in a ship unloading plan are distributed overContainer Area A, Container Area B, Container Area C and Container AreaD managed by Warehouse Management Systems A-D, respectively, thescheduling center system 1 can generate four container storage tasks,with the containers in each container storage task having the sametarget container area, and transmit the four container storage tasks toWarehouse Management Systems A-D, respectively.

In an embodiment, the remote communication between the scheduling centersystem 1 and the ship control system 2 of the target ship can beperformed by means of satellite communication. For the implementation ofthe satellite communication between the ship control system 2 and thescheduling center system 1, reference can be made to the existingsatellite communication technology and details thereof will be omittedhere. Within the wireless signal coverage of the port, the schedulingcenter system 1, the shore crane control system 3 of the target shorecrane apparatus, the warehouse management systems 5 of the warehousecenter and the vehicle control system 4 of the transportation vehiclecan communicate with each other by means of wireless communication. Thewireless communication can be Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT),4G, WIFI, Zigbee or the like, and the present disclosure is not limitedthereto.

Based on the same inventive concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a scheduling center system 1 is provided. Referringto FIG. 3, the scheduling center system 1 includes at least one machineexecutable instruction. The at least one machine executable instructionincludes a scheduling communication module 101, a plan generation module102 and a task generation module 103. The at least one machineexecutable instruction is executed by a processor such that: thescheduling communication module 101 is configured to transmit andreceive information, the plan generation module 102 is configured togenerate a ship unloading plan based on ship information and containerinformation of a target ship and shore crane apparatus information asreceived by the scheduling communication module 101, and the taskgeneration module 103 is configured to generate a ship berthing task anda ship unloading task based on the ship unloading plan, and transmit theship berthing task and the ship unloading task to a ship control systemof the target ship and a shore crane control system of a target shorecrane apparatus, respectively, via the scheduling communication module101 (the scheduling communication module 101 transmits the ship berthingtask to the ship control system of the target ship and transmits theship unloading task to the shore crane control system of the targetshore crane apparatus).

In some optional embodiments, the scheduling communication module 101can transmit and receive information using any of various communicationprotocols. The transmitted or received information can be transmitted orreceived via an antenna or transceiver coupled to the communicationmodule 101.

In some optional embodiments, the task generation module 103 can befurther configured to generate a container storage task based on theship unloading plan and transmit the container storage task to awarehouse management system 5 of a warehouse center via the schedulingcommunication module 101.

In some optional embodiments, the task generation module 103 can befurther configured to generate a container loading task based on theship unloading plan and transmit the container loading task to a vehiclecontrol system of a corresponding transportation vehicle via thescheduling communication module 101, and, upon receiving associationinformation between the transportation vehicle and a container via thescheduling communication module 101, generate a container unloading taskcontaining a container unloading location based on a target containerarea for the container and transmit the container unloading task to thevehicle control system of the transportation vehicle in the associationinformation via the scheduling communication module 101.

Based on the same application concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a scheduling center system 1 is provided. Thescheduling center system 1 includes at least one processor and at leastone memory. The at least one memory stores at least one machineexecutable instruction executable by the at least one processor. The atleast one machine executable instruction includes the modules shown inFIG. 3. The at least one machine executable instruction can also providemodules for functions such as an operating system and a human-machineinteraction interface. The at least one processor executes the at leastone machine executable instruction to implement the above describedoperations, processes and functions of the scheduling center system 1 asshown in FIG. 1. The scheduling center system 1 according to theembodiment of the present disclosure can be provided at a specifiedlocation in a port, e.g., at a central control center or a centralizedcontrol center. The control center can further include other controlsystems or scheduling systems and can communicate with other externalmanagement systems, e.g., a customs management system. The schedulingcenter system 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosurecan also communicate with the other systems in the control center and/orthe external management systems.

Based on the same inventive concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a ship control system 2 is provided. Referring toFIG. 4, the ship control system 2 includes at least one machineexecutable instruction. The at least one machine executable instructionincludes a ship communication module 201 and a ship control module 202.The at least one machine executable instruction is executed by aprocessor such that: the ship communication module 201 is configured totransmit and receive information, and the ship control module 202 isconfigured to transmit ship information and container information to ascheduling center system via the ship communication module 201, and uponreceiving a ship berthing task from the scheduling center system via theship communication module 201, control a target ship to move to anoperation area corresponding to a target shore crane apparatus, andtransmit a ship in-position notification message to a shore cranecontrol system of the target shore crane apparatus via the shipcommunication module 201.

In some optional embodiments, the ship communication module 201 cantransmit and receive information using any of various communicationprotocols. The transmitted or received information can be transmitted orreceived via an antenna or transceiver coupled to the communicationmodule 201.

Based on the same application concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a ship control system 2 is provided. The shipcontrol system 2 includes at least one processor and at least onememory. The at least one memory stores at least one machine executableinstruction executable by the at least one processor. The at least onemachine executable instruction includes the modules shown in FIG. 4. Theat least one machine executable instruction can also provide modules forfunctions such as an operating system and a human-machine interactioninterface. The at least one processor executes the at least one machineexecutable instruction to implement the above described operations,processes and functions of the ship control system 2 as shown in FIG. 1.

Based on the same inventive concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a ship is provided. The ship includes the shipcontrol system 2 according to the above embodiment.

Based on the same inventive concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a shore crane control system 3 is provided.Referring to FIG. 5, the shore crane control system 3 includes at leastone machine executable instruction. The at least one machine executableinstruction includes a shore crane communication module 301 and ahoisting control module 302. The at least one machine executableinstruction is executed by a processor such that: the shore cranecommunication module 301 is configured to transmit and receiveinformation, and the hoisting control module 302 is configured toreceive a ship unloading task from a scheduling center system 1 via theshore crane communication module 301, and upon receiving a shipin-position notification message from a ship control system via theshore crane communication module 301, control a target shore craneapparatus to load a container on a target ship onto a transportationvehicle in accordance with the ship unloading task.

In some optional embodiments, the shore crane communication module 301can transmit and receive information using any of various communicationprotocols. The transmitted or received information can be transmitted orreceived via an antenna or transceiver coupled to the communicationmodule 301.

In some optional embodiments, referring to FIG. 6, the shore cranecontrol system 3 can further include a shore crane task generationmodule 303 configured to generate a container storage task based on theship unloading task and transmit the container storage task to awarehouse management system 5 of a warehouse center via the shore cranecommunication module 301.

In some optional embodiments, the hoisting control module 302controlling the target shore crane apparatus to load the container onthe target ship onto the transportation vehicle in accordance with theship unloading task may include: confirming an identity of the containeron the target ship and controlling the target shore crane apparatus tohoist the container when the identity is confirmed; and controlling thetarget shore crane apparatus to load the container onto thetransportation vehicle upon receiving a vehicle in-position notificationmessage from a vehicle control system of the transportation vehicle viathe shore crane communication module 301.

In some optional embodiments, the hoisting control module 302 can befurther configured to establish association information between thetransportation vehicle and the container after controlling the targetshore crane apparatus to load the container onto the transportationvehicle.

In some optional embodiments, the hoisting control module 302 can befurther configured to transmit the association information to thescheduling center system 1 via the shore crane communication module 301.

In some optional embodiments, the shore crane task generation module 303can be further configured to generate a container loading task based onthe ship unloading task and transmit the container loading task to avehicle control system 4 of the transportation vehicle via the shorecrane communication module 301, and after controlling the target shorecrane apparatus to load the container onto the transportation vehicle,generate a container unloading task containing a container unloadinglocation based on a target container area for the container and transmitthe container unloading task to the vehicle control system 4 of thetransportation vehicle via the shore crane communication module 301.

Based on the same application concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a shore crane control system 3 is provided. Theshore crane control system 3 includes at least one processor and atleast one memory. The at least one memory stores at least one machineexecutable instruction executable by the at least one processor. The atleast one machine executable instruction includes the modules shown inFIG. 5 or 6. The at least one machine executable instruction can alsoprovide modules for functions such as an operating system and ahuman-machine interaction interface. The at least one processor executesthe at least one machine executable instruction to implement the abovedescribed operations, processes and functions of the shore crane controlsystem 3 as shown in FIG. 1.

Based on the same inventive concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a shore crane apparatus is provided. The shore craneapparatus includes the shore crane control system 3 according to theabove embodiment.

Based on the same inventive concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a vehicle control system 4 is provided. Referring toFIG. 7, the vehicle control system 4 includes at least one machineexecutable instruction. The at least one machine executable instructionincludes a vehicle communication module 401 and a vehicle control module402. The at least one machine executable instruction is executed by aprocessor such that: the vehicle communication module 401 is configuredto transmit and receive information, and the vehicle control module 402is configured to control, upon receiving a container loading task viathe vehicle communication module 401, a transportation vehicle to moveto a container loading location associated with the container loadingtask for loading a container in accordance with the container loadingtask, and to control, upon receiving a container unloading task via thevehicle communication module 401, the transportation vehicle to move toa container unloading location associated with the container unloadingtask for unloading a container in accordance with the containerunloading task.

In some optional embodiments, the vehicle communication module 401 cantransmit and receive information using any of various communicationprotocols. The transmitted or received information can be transmitted orreceived via an antenna or transceiver coupled to the communicationmodule 401.

Based on the same application concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a vehicle control system 4 is provided. The vehiclecontrol system 4 includes at least one processor and at least onememory. The at least one memory stores at least one machine executableinstruction executable by the at least one processor. The at least onemachine executable instruction includes the modules shown in FIG. 6. Theat least one machine executable instruction can also provide modules forfunctions such as an operating system and a human-machine interactioninterface. The at least one processor executes the at least one machineexecutable instruction to implement the above described operations,processes and functions of the vehicle control system 4 as shown in FIG.1.

Based on the same application concept, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a transportation vehicle is provided. Thetransportation vehicle includes the vehicle control system 4 accordingto the above embodiment. The transportation vehicle may further includeother sensor systems, vehicle networking systems and control systems.The vehicle control system 4 can communicate with these systems so as toenable efficient navigation and safe travel of the vehicle.

Embodiment 2

According to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure, a ship loadingcontrol system is provided. Referring to FIG. 1, the ship loadingcontrol system includes: a scheduling center system 1 configured todetermine a ship loading plan based on ship information, containerinformation, and shore crane apparatus information, generate a shipberthing task and a ship loading task based on the ship loading plan,and transmit the ship berthing task and the ship loading task to a shipcontrol system 2 of a target ship and a shore crane control system 3 ofa target shore crane apparatus, respectively (i.e., the schedulingcenter system 1 transmits the ship berthing task to the ship controlsystem 2 of the target ship and transmits the ship loading task to theshore crane control system 3 of the target shore crane apparatus); theship control system 2 configured to control, upon receiving the shipberthing task, the target ship to move to an operation areacorresponding to the target shore crane apparatus, and transmit a shipin-position notification message to the shore crane control system ofthe target shore crane apparatus; and the shore crane control system 3configured to control, upon receiving the ship in-position notificationmessage from the ship control system, the target shore crane apparatusto load a container on a transportation vehicle onto the target ship inaccordance with the received ship loading task.

In an embodiment, the shore crane control system 3 can be furtherconfigured to: confirm, upon receiving a vehicle in-positionnotification message from a vehicle control system of the transportationvehicle, identification information of the container on thetransportation vehicle, control the target shore crane apparatus to loadthe container on the transportation vehicle onto the target ship whenthe identification information is confirmed, and mark the container inthe ship loading task as in a loaded state; and transmit a ship loadingcompletion notification message to the scheduling center system 1 and/orthe ship control system 2 of the target ship when determining that allcontainers in the ship loading task have been marked as in the loadedstate.

In particular, the containers on the target ship can be arranged incolumns, with multiple containers being stacked in layers in eachcolumn. Upon receiving the vehicle in-position notification message fromthe vehicle control system 4, the shore crane control system 3 cancompare the container information in the ship loading task with theidentification information of the container carried by thetransportation vehicle, and when they match each other, determine thatthe identification information of the container carried by thetransportation vehicle is confirmed, control the target shore craneapparatus to load the container on the transportation vehicle onto thetarget ship, and mark the container in the ship loading task as in theloaded state.

In some optional embodiments, a tag containing the identificationinformation of the container can be provided at the surface of thecontainer. For example, the tag can be a Quick Response (QR) code or abarcode, and the shore crane control system 3 can confirm the identityof the container on the transportation vehicle by recognizing the QRcode or barcode on the container.

In an embodiment, the shore crane control system 3 can include anidentity recognition device, which can be a camera, a code reader or anyother device capable of recognizing a QR code or barcode (the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto). As an implementation of theembodiment of the present disclosure, the identity recognition devicecan be provided on a hoisting arm of the target shore crane apparatusand can obtain the identification information of the container byscanning the QR code or barcode on the container, compare theidentification information of the container with the identificationinformation of the container in the ship loading task, and determinethat the identity is confirmed when they match each other, or otherwisedetermine that the confirmation of the identity fails.

In an embodiment, the tag can be an electronic tag bound to theidentification information of the container. Accordingly, the identityrecognition device can be an inductive reader for obtaining theidentification information of the container by reading theidentification information of the container from the electronic tag,comparing the identification information of the container with theidentification information of the container in the ship loading task,and determining that the identity is confirmed when they match eachother, or otherwise determining that the confirmation of the identityfails.

In an embodiment, when the shore crane control system 3 is controllingthe shore crane apparatus to hoist the containers onto the target ship,the containers to be loaded onto the target ship can be loaded bycolumns and stacked layer by layer per column (the containers are loadedone column of container loading areas after another).

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the containers areloaded onto the target ship for transportation, the target ship can bedivided into a plurality of areas depending on different destinationports, with the containers in each area corresponding to the samedestination port. In this way, when the ship arrives at a port, a shorecrane apparatus at the port can unload the containers in thecorresponding area, so as to reduce the workload of hoisting operationswhen they arrive at their destinations and improve the operationefficiency.

In some optional embodiments, the ship information may include shiparrival time and ship state information. The shore crane apparatusinformation may include operation time information of each shore craneapparatus in a port area. The container information may include a numberof containers and identification information and destination informationof each container. The scheduling center system 1 generating the shiploading plan based on the ship information, the container information,and the shore crane apparatus information may include: determining astorage location of each container based on the identificationinformation of the container; determining a target ship based on thenumber of containers, the destination information of each container, theship arrival time and ship state information of each ship in the shipinformation; determining the target shore crane apparatus based on theship arrival time of the target ship and the operation time informationof each shore crane apparatus in the shore crane apparatus information;estimating ship loading start time and ship loading end time based onthe ship arrival time of the target ship, the operation time informationof the target shore crane apparatus and the number of containers, andgenerating the ship loading plan containing identification informationof the target ship, identification information of the target shore craneapparatus, the ship loading start time, the ship loading end time andthe identification information and the storage location for eachcontainer.

In an embodiment, the ship loading start time can be determined by:determining whether the target shore crane apparatus is in an idle stateat the ship arrival time based on the operation time of the target shorecrane apparatus; and if so, determining the ship arrival time or thetime at which the ship has arrived and berthed as the ship loading starttime, or otherwise determining the time at which the target shore craneapparatus completes the task it is performing at the ship arrival timeas the ship loading start time.

In an embodiment, the ship loading end time can be determined by:calculating a time length required for the target shore crane apparatusto load the container onto the target ship based on a historicaloperation rate of the target shore crane apparatus; and obtaining theship loading end time based on the ship loading start time and the timelength.

In some optional embodiments, the ship loading plan may contain the shiploading start time, the ship loading end time, the identificationinformation of the target shore crane apparatus, the container unloadinglocation corresponding to the target shore crane apparatus, theidentification information of the target ship, the identificationinformation of the warehouse management system, the identificationinformation of the transportation vehicle, and the identificationinformation and the storage location for each container.

The scheduling center system 1 generating the container transportationtask and the container distribution task based on the ship loading planmay include: the scheduling center system 1 generating the containertransportation task containing the container loading location and thecontainer unloading location, and generating the container distributiontask containing the ship loading start time, the ship loading end time,the identification information of the target shore crane apparatus, theidentification information of the target ship, the identificationinformation of the warehouse management system, and the identificationinformation and the storage location for each container.

As an implementation of the embodiment of the present disclosure, theship state information may include tonnage information of each ship anda travel route of each ship. The scheduling center system 1 can selectships satisfying a container transportation requirement based on thedestination information of the containers and the travel route of eachship, and select, as the target ship, a ship satisfying a containerloading requirement from the ships satisfying the containertransportation requirement based on the number of containers and theidentification information of each container and the tonnage informationof the ships.

As an implementation of the embodiment of the present disclosure, thescheduling center system 1 determining the target shore crane apparatusbased on the ship arrival time of the target ship and the operation timeinformation of each shore crane apparatus in the shore crane apparatusinformation may include: determining one or more shore crane apparatusesavailable at the ship arrival time based on the ship arrival time of thetarget ship and the operation time information of each shore craneapparatus; and selecting one of the determined one or more shore craneapparatuses as the target shore crane apparatus. The available shorecrane apparatus may refer to a shore crane apparatus that is in an idlestate at the arrival time, or a shore crane apparatus that is about tocomplete its operation at the arrival time.

As an implementation of the embodiment of the present disclosure, whendetermining the target shore crane apparatus based on the ship arrivaltime and the operation time information of each shore crane apparatus inthe shore crane apparatus information, if the operation area of thetarget ship is enough for two or more shore crane apparatuses to performhoisting operations, the scheduling center system 1 can select two ormore of the shore crane apparatuses in the idle state based on sizeinformation and the operation area of the ship, as target shore craneapparatuses. In the ship loading operation, different target shore craneapparatuses can hoist containers within their respective operationranges in accordance with the ship loading task and load the containersonto the target ship, so as to shorten the operation time and improvethe operation efficiency.

As an implementation of the embodiment of the present disclosure, duringthe ship loading process, if the currently determined target shore craneapparatus cannot meet a container hoisting requirement, e.g., when thecurrently determined target shore crane apparatus malfunctions duringthe hoisting operation, the scheduling center system 1 can reselectanother available hoisting apparatus as a new target shore craneapparatus based on current time information and the operation timeinformation of each shore crane apparatus in the shore crane apparatusinformation.

In some optional embodiments, the scheduling center system 1 generatingthe ship berthing task, the ship loading task, and the containerdistribution task based on the ship loading plan may include: generatingthe ship berthing task containing identification information and anoperation area of the target shore crane apparatus, based on the shiploading plan; generating the ship loading task containing identificationinformation of the target ship, ship loading start time, ship loadingend time and identification information of each container based on theship loading plan; and generating the container distribution taskcontaining identification information of the identification informationof the target shore crane apparatus, ship loading start time, shiploading end time and identification information and storage location ofeach container based on the ship loading plan.

In some optional embodiments, the ship control system 2 can be furtherconfigured to: determine a travel time length from a current location ofthe ship to the port based on the current location, a location of theport and a travel route; estimating arrival time at which the targetship arrives at the port based on the travel time length and currenttime; and transmitting the ship information containing the estimatedarrival time and ship state information to the scheduling center system1.

In this embodiment, the scheme for obtaining the arrival time of theship can be similar to that for obtaining the arrival time of the targetship as described above in connection with Embodiment 1, and detailsthereof will be omitted here.

In an embodiment, when the target ship approaches the area where thetarget shore crane apparatus is located, the ship control system cancontrol the target ship to move to the operation area of the targetshore crane apparatus in accordance with the received ship berthing taskcontaining the identification information and operation area of thetarget shore crane apparatus. When the target ship is in position, theship control system can transmit the ship in-position notificationmessage to the shore crane control system of the target shore craneapparatus and wait for the ship loading operation.

Referring to FIG. 2, the ship loading control system according toEmbodiment 2 of the present disclosure can further include a vehiclecontrol system 4 provided at the transportation vehicle and a warehousemanagement system 5.

The vehicle control system 4 is configured to control, upon receiving acontainer transportation task, the transportation vehicle to move to acontainer loading location associated with the container transportationtask for loading the container, and to control, when completing theloading of the container, the transportation vehicle to move to acontainer unloading location associated with the containertransportation task for unloading the container.

The warehouse management system 5 is configured to assign, uponreceiving the container distribution task, a warehouse hoistingapparatus to hoist a target container in the container distribution taskonto the transportation vehicle.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a warehouse managementsystem can manage one or more container areas. If the container areas inwhich the storages locations of the containers in the ship loading planare located are distributed across a plurality of warehouse managementsystems, the scheduling center system can generate a plurality ofcontainer distribution tasks based on the ship loading plan and transmitthem to the respective warehouse management systems. Assuming that onewarehouse management system manages one container area and the containerareas corresponding to the storages locations of a number, M, ofcontainers in a ship loading plan are distributed over Container Area A,Container Area B, Container Area C and Container Area D managed byWarehouse Management Systems A-D, respectively, the scheduling centersystem can generate four container distribution tasks, with thecontainers in each container distribution task having the same targetcontainer area, and transmit the four container distribution tasks toWarehouse Management Systems A-D, respectively.

In an optional embodiment, the scheduling center system 1 can be furtherconfigured to generate the container transportation task based on theship loading plan and transmit the container transportation task to thevehicle control system 4 of the transportation vehicle.

In an optional embodiment, the shore crane control system 3 can befurther configured to generate the container transportation task basedon the ship loading task and transmit the container transportation taskto the vehicle control system 4 of the transportation vehicle.

In an optional embodiment, the warehouse management system 5 can befurther configured to generate the container transportation task basedon the container distribution task and transmit the containertransportation task to the vehicle control system 4 of thetransportation vehicle.

In an embodiment, the shore crane control system 3 can obtain its ownlocation information by means of positioning, and exchange informationwith the ship control system and the vehicle control system, so as toobtain the location information of the target ship and the locationinformation of the transportation vehicle, and hoist the container ontothe target ship based on its own location information, the locationinformation of the target ship and the location information of thetransportation vehicle.

In some optional embodiments, the warehouse management system 5assigning the warehouse hoisting apparatus to hoist the target containerin the container distribution task onto the transportation vehicle mayinclude: the warehouse management system 5 transmitting a containerloading hoisting task containing a storage location of the container toa hoisting control system of the warehouse hoisting apparatus based on atarget container area for each container in the container distributiontask; and the warehouse management system 5 marking the container in thecontainer distribution task as in a distributed state upon receiving acontainer loading completion notification message from the hoistingcontrol system of the warehouse hoisting apparatus, and transmitting acontainer distribution task completion notification message to thescheduling center system 1 when determining that all containers in thecontainer distribution task have been marked as in the distributedstate.

Upon receiving the container loading hoisting task, the hoisting controlsystem of the warehouse hoisting apparatus can control the warehousehoisting apparatus to lift the container at the storage location in thecontainer loading hoisting task, load the container onto thetransportation vehicle upon receiving a transportation vehiclein-position notification message, and transmit a container loadingcompletion notification message to the warehouse management system 5and/or the vehicle control system 4 of the transportation vehicle.

In some optional embodiments, a tag containing the identificationinformation of the container can be provided at the surface of thecontainer. For example, the tag can be a Quick Response (QR) code or abarcode, and the warehouse management system can confirm the identity ofthe container at the storage location by recognizing the QR code orbarcode on the container.

In an embodiment, the warehouse management system can include anidentity recognition device, which can be a camera, a code reader or anyother device capable of recognizing a QR code or barcode (the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto). As an implementation of theembodiment of the present disclosure, the identity recognition devicecan be provided on a hoister of the warehouse hoisting apparatus and canobtain the identification information of the container by scanning theQR code or barcode on the container, compare the identificationinformation of the container with the identification information of thecontainer in the container distribution task, and determine that theidentity is confirmed when they match each other, or otherwise determinethat the confirmation of the identity fails.

In an embodiment, the tag can be an electronic tag bound to theidentification information of the container. Accordingly, the identityrecognition device can be an inductive reader for obtaining theidentification information of the container by reading theidentification information of the container from the electronic tag,comparing the identification information of the container with theidentification information of the container in the containerdistribution task, and determining that the identity is confirmed whenthey match each other, or otherwise determining that the confirmation ofthe identity fails.

In some optional embodiments, the vehicle control system 4 can befurther configured to transmit a container loading in-positionnotification message to the warehouse management system 5 correspondingto the container loading location when controlling the transportationvehicle to move to the container loading location in the containertransportation task. The warehouse management system 5 can transmit atransportation vehicle in-position notification message to the hoistingcontrol system of the warehouse hoisting apparatus.

In some optional embodiments, the vehicle control system 4 can befurther configured to transmit a container loading in-positionnotification message to the warehouse management system 5 correspondingto the container loading location when controlling the transportationvehicle to move to the container loading location in the containertransportation task. The warehouse management system 5 can transmit theidentification information of the warehouse hoisting apparatus to thevehicle control system 4. The vehicle control system 4 can transmit atransportation vehicle in-position notification message to the hoistingcontrol system of the warehouse hoisting apparatus.

In some optional embodiments, the vehicle control system 4 can befurther configured to transmit a transportation vehicle in-positionnotification message to the hoisting control system of the warehousehoisting apparatus when controlling the transportation vehicle to moveto the container loading location in the container transportation task.

In some optional embodiments, the vehicle control system 4 can befurther configured to transmit a container unloading in-positionnotification message to the shore crane control system 3 of the shorecrane apparatus corresponding to the container unloading location whencontrolling the transportation vehicle to move to the containerunloading location associated with the container transportation task.

In some optional embodiments, the vehicle control system 4 can befurther configured to transmit a container loading in-positionnotification message to the warehouse management system 5 correspondingto the container loading location when controlling the transportationvehicle to move to the container loading location, and transmit acontainer unloading in-position notification message to the shore cranecontrol system 3 of the target shore crane apparatus corresponding tothe container unloading location when controlling the transportationvehicle to move to the container unloading location.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the vehicle control system 4can be configured to determine a current location of the transportationvehicle, plan a first travel route from the current location of thetransportation vehicle to the container loading location and control thetransportation vehicle to move to the container loading location forloading the container, or plan a second travel route from the containerloading location to the container unloading location and control thetransportation vehicle to move to the container unloading location forunloading the container, based on the container transportation task forthe transportation vehicle. While the transportation vehicle is moving,environment information can be obtained and a perception result can bedetermined. Travel decision information can be determined based on theperception result and the travel route. The transportation vehicle canbe controlled to move to the container loading location or containerunloading location along the travel route based on the travel decisioninformation.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the storage area of thewarehouse center can be divided into a number of container areasdepending on the types of container goods they can store. The containersin each container area are stacked in layers per column. The containerdistribution task transmitted from the scheduling center system 1 to thewarehouse management system 5 of the warehouse center may contain theidentification information of the container and the storage location ofthe container.

In an embodiment, the hoisting control system of the warehouse hoistingapparatus can determine its own location information by means ofpositioning, exchange information with the warehouse management system 5and the vehicle control system 4 to obtain the storage locationinformation of the container and the location information of thetransportation vehicle, and hoist the container on the transportationvehicle to the storage location of the container, or lift and load thecontainer at the container storage location onto the transportationvehicle, based on its own location information, the storage locationinformation of the container and the location information of thetransportation vehicle.

In an embodiment, the warehouse hoisting apparatus can be a rubber-tiredgantry crane, a rail-mounted gantry crane or a forklift. The warehousehoisting apparatus is provided with a hoisting arm, which can be amechanical arm or a hoister (the present disclosure is not limitedthereto). In an embodiment, the hoisting arm of the warehouse hoistingapparatus may have a specific structure similar to the hoisting arm ofthe shore crane apparatus. For the lifting operation process for thewarehouse hoisting apparatus to lift the container, reference can bemade to the lifting operation process for the shore crane apparatus anddetails thereof will be omitted here.

In some optional embodiments, the container transportation task in theabove embodiment can be generated by the shore crane control system 3based on the ship loading task and transmitted to the vehicle controlsystem 4 of the transportation vehicle.

In some optional embodiments, the container transportation task in theabove embodiment can be generated by the warehouse management system 5based on the container distribution task and transmitted to the vehiclecontrol system 4 of the transportation vehicle.

Unless stated otherwise specifically, terms such as processing,calculating, operating, determining, displaying and the like may referto an action and/or procedure performed by one or more processing orcomputing systems or similar devices. The action and/or procedure can berepresented as a data operation on a physical (e.g., electronic)quantity in a register or memory of a processing system or a conversioninto other data similarly represented as a physical quantity in a memoryor register of a processing system or any other similar informationstorage, transmission or display device. Information or signals can berepresented using any of various different techniques and methods. Forexample, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits,symbols and chips mentioned throughout the above description can berepresented using voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magneticfields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combinationthereof.

It should be noted that any particular order or hierarchy of the stepsin the disclosed process is only an example of an exemplary method. Itcan be appreciated that, depending on design preferences, the particularorder or hierarchy of the steps in the disclosed process can bere-arranged without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.The method claims as attached show elements of the respective steps inan exemplary order, but they are not limited to the particular order orhierarchy as described.

In the above detailed description, various features may be combinedtogether in one single embodiment for simplicity. However, suchdisclosure should not be interpreted as reflecting an intent that theimplementation of the claimed subject matter requires more features thanthose clearly defined in each claim. Rather, as reflected by the claimsas attached, the present disclosure may be in a state having less thanall features of the one single embodiment as disclosed. Therefore, theclaims are hereby explicitly incorporated into the detailed descriptionand each claim individually constitutes a separate preferred embodimentof the present disclosure.

It can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variousillustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments of the present disclosurecan be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or anycombination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate theinterchangeability between the hardware and the software, theillustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps have beendescribed above generally with respect to their functions. Depending onspecific applications and design constraints applied to the entiresystem, the functions can be implemented in either hardware or software.For each specific application, those skilled in the art can implementthe described function flexibly. However, such implementation decisionshould not be interpreted as departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

The steps of the methods or algorithms described in connection with theembodiments of the present disclosure can be embodied directly ashardware, software modules executable by processors or any combinationthereof. The software modules can be provided in a RAM, a flash memory,a ROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a register, a hard drive, a removablemagnetic drive, a CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium known inthe art. An exemplary storage medium is connected to a processor, suchthat the processor can read information from the storage medium or writeinformation into the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium canalternatively be a component of the processor. The processor and thestorage medium can be provided in an ASIC. The ASIC can be in a userterminal. Of course, the processor and the storage medium can beprovided as separate components in a user terminal.

For software implementations, the technique described in the presentdisclosure can be implemented using modules (e.g., processes, functionsor the like) performing the functions described in the presentdisclosure. These software codes can be stored in a memory unit andexecuted by a processor. The memory unit can be provided within theprocessor or externally to the processor. In the latter case, it can becommunicatively coupled to the processor in various ways known in theart.

The above description includes examples of one or more embodiments. Ofcourse, it would be impossible to describe all possible combinations ofcomponents or methods in order to describe the above embodiments.However, it can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that theembodiments can be further combined and arranged. Thus, the embodimentsdescribed herein are intended to cover all such changes, modificationsand variants that fall within the scope of the claims as attached.Further, the term “including” as used in the description or claims has acoverage similar to that of the term “comprising” when used in theclaims as a transition word. Moreover, any term “or” as used in theclaims or description is to be interpreted as “or in a non-exclusivesense”.

What is claimed is:
 1. A ship unloading control system, comprising: ascheduling center system located in a port area with one or more craneapparatus, the scheduling center system configured to: generate a shipunloading plan based on ship information and container information of atarget ship and shore crane apparatus information, the target shiptransporting one or more containers, generate a ship berthing task and aship unloading task based on the ship unloading plan, and transmit,using an antenna or transceiver coupled to a first communication moduleof the scheduling center system, the ship berthing task and the shipunloading task to a ship control system of the target ship and a shorecrane control system of a target shore crane apparatus, respectively;the ship control system provided on the target ship, the ship controlsystem configured to: after entering a wireless signal coverage area ofthe port area, establish communication with the shore crane controlsystem of the target shore crane apparatus wirelessly based onidentification information of the target shore crane apparatus receivedfrom the scheduling center system, transmit, using an antenna ortransceiver coupled to a second communication module of the ship controlsystem, the ship information and the container information to thescheduling center system, control the target ship to move to anoperation area corresponding to the target shore crane apparatus inaccordance with the received ship berthing task, and transmit, using theantenna or transceiver coupled to the second communication module, aship in-position notification message to the shore crane control systemof the target shore crane apparatus; and the shore crane control systemconfigured to control, upon receiving, by an antenna or transceivercoupled to a communication module of the shore crane control system, theship in-position notification message from the ship control system, thetarget shore crane apparatus to load a targeted container on the targetship onto a transportation vehicle in accordance with the ship unloadingtask, wherein, the shore crane control system comprises an identityrecognition device, the identity recognition device being provided on ahoisting arm of the target shore crane apparatus and configured to scana QR code or a barcode on the targeted container.
 2. The ship unloadingcontrol system of claim 1, wherein: the ship information comprises shiparrival time and ship state information, the shore crane apparatusinformation comprises operation time information of each of the one ormore shore crane apparatus in a port area, the container informationcomprises a number of containers transported by the target ship andidentification information and a type of goods carried by each containertransported by the target ship, and the scheduling center system beingconfigured to generate the ship unloading plan based on the shipinformation and container information of the target ship and the shorecrane apparatus information comprises the scheduling center system beingconfigured to: determine the target shore crane apparatus based on theship arrival time and the operation time information of each of the oneor more shore crane apparatus in the shore crane apparatus information;estimate ship unloading start time and ship unloading end time based onthe ship arrival time, the operation time information of the targetshore crane apparatus and the number of containers transported by thetarget ship, and determine a target container area for each containertransported by the target ship based on the type of goods carried by thecontainer and information on container areas in the port area; andgenerate the ship unloading plan containing: identification informationof the target ship, identification information of the target shore craneapparatus, the ship unloading start time, the ship unloading end time,and the identification information for each container transported by thetarget ship and the target container area for each container transportedby the target ship.
 3. The ship unloading control system of claim 2,wherein the scheduling center system being configured to determine thetarget shore crane apparatus based on the ship information and the shorecrane apparatus information comprises the scheduling center system beingconfigured to: determine one or more shore crane apparatuses in an idlestate at the ship arrival time based on the ship arrival time and theoperation time information of each shore crane apparatus; and select oneof the determined one or more shore crane apparatuses as the targetshore crane apparatus.
 4. The ship unloading control system of claim 2,wherein the scheduling center system being configured to generate theship berthing task and the ship unloading task based on the shipunloading plan comprises the scheduling center system being configuredto: generate the ship berthing task containing identificationinformation of the target shore crane apparatus and an operation area ofthe target shore crane apparatus, based on the ship unloading plan; andgenerate the ship unloading task containing: the identificationinformation of the target ship, ship unloading start time, shipunloading end time, identification information for each containertransported by the target ship, and a target container area for eachcontainer transported by the target ship, based on the ship unloadingplan.
 5. The ship unloading control system of claim 1, wherein the shipcontrol system being configured to transmit the ship information and thecontainer information to the scheduling center system comprises the shipcontrol system being configured to: determine a travel time length froma current location of the target ship to a port based on the currentlocation, a location of the port and a travel route; estimate arrivaltime at which the target ship arrives at the port based on the traveltime length and current time; and transmit the ship informationcontaining the estimated arrival time and ship state information and thecontainer information to the scheduling center system.
 6. The shipunloading control system of claim 1, wherein the shore crane controlsystem being configured to control the target shore crane apparatus toload the targeted container on the target ship onto the transportationvehicle in accordance with the ship unloading task comprises the shorecrane control system being configured to: confirm an identity of eachcontainer transported by the target ship in a predetermined containerunloading order and control the target shore crane apparatus to hoisteach container transported by the target ship when its identity isconfirmed; and control, upon receiving a vehicle in-positionnotification message from a vehicle control system of the transportationvehicle, the target shore crane apparatus to load the targeted containeronto the transportation vehicle, mark the container in the shipunloading task as in an unloaded state, and transmit a ship unloadingcompletion notification message to the scheduling center system and/orthe ship control system of the target ship when determining that allcontainers in the ship unloading task are in the unloaded state.
 7. Theship unloading control system of claim 6, wherein the predeterminedcontainer unloading order is an order in which containers are unloadedby columns, from top to bottom per column, by the target shore craneapparatus, and the shore crane control system is further configured to,when confirmation of the identity of any of the containers transportedby the target ship fails, lift and place a container that failedidentification confirmation on top of another column of containerstransported by the target ship whose identities have been confirmed onthe target ship.